The present invention relates to a fishing lure, and is especially directed to spoon-type lures in which the lure body is a concave-convex plate of ovate curve shape, narrower at the nose or leading end and wider at the tail or trailing end.
Spoons are often used for trolling in both fresh and salt water. There are many varieties of game fish or sport fish, especially in salt water or on the Great Lakes, that prefer prey fish that swim at high speeds, that is, at 21/2 to 7 knots or faster. High speed trolling also gives the fisherman the advantage of covering more area, as well as attracting sport fish that prefer faster swimming prey.
However, the geometry of conventional spoon type lures induces rotation at these speeds. This is undesirable action and does not attract fish as effectively as at lower speeds. Also, the spinning of the lure tends to twist the line on the reel.
A number of approaches have been attempted to add structure to lures for any of a variety of reasons. However, none of these approaches induces sufficient stability for high speed trolling.
Dedrick U.S. Pat. No. 2,740,225 shows a spoon-type lure in which fins are molded or formed onto the lure body for the purpose of reflecting light.
Baum U.S. Pat. No. 2,787,075 has a stabilizing plate or fin mounted onto the metal body of a fishing lure as an anti-spin feature.
Swanberg U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,186 shows a spoon in which
Swanberg U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,186 shows a spoon in which the hook has a knee portion with a steel ball on it to serve as a keel to control oscillatory motion.
Hendrick U.S. Pat. No. 1,885,440 shows a spoon fishing lure whose body is a plate of variable thickness so as to have numerous edges and contours.
Toivonen U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,096 shows a spoon-type lure with blunt front and back edges, and which is thicker at its narrow end and thinner at its wide end. The object of the Toivonen structure is to provide a weighted leading portion to achieve erratic action upon retrieval.
None of these previous designs has been particularly effective for attracting and catching fish at high speeds.